Saving Louisiana & the Gulf Coast: Easy tools to get involved

In 2006, Congress passed long overdue legislation to guarantee that Gulf Coast states would receive fair royalties as compensation for oil leases in the Gulf. Those dollars are essential to adequately invest in projects that will turn back the tide of coastal erosion and fund the preservation of our coast. Those revenues are not scheduled to kick in until 2016.

Given the events of the last 5 weeks, it is clear that this schedule must be accelerated to deal with the unexpected acute dangers affecting our coast. Sen. Landrieu has introduced legislation to speed up the distribution of those funds, providing resources as early as 2011.

Not only is New Orleans the birthplace of jazz and one of the most culturally unique cities in America, it is also a vital American economic resource in terms of seafood, oil and gas, and transportation of agricultural products and raw materials.

With e-mail and Twitter, letting our political leaders know how you feel has never been easier. Whether you live in the affected area or not, you have a stake in this issue. Please take a moment to contact your legislators and demand that they support this legislation.

To write, e-mail, or even tweet your congressional representatives, here’s the link.

I’ve also included a couple of brief templates for e-mail or twitter:

E-mail letter:

“It is clear that given recent events in the Gulf of Mexico, affected areas are in dire need of significant economic resources, not only to deal with the ongoing immediate crisis of the oil spill in the Gulf, but also to fund long-term projects that will turn back the tide of coastal erosion and fund the preservation of the coast.

Please support legislation accelerating the distribution of oil revenue royalties to Gulf Coast states from the year 2016 to the year 2011. These funds would provide a significant return on investment, given the economic impact that the Gulf Coast region has on the entire U.S. in terms of seafood, oil and gas, transportation of agricultural products and raw materials, and cultural resources.”

Twitter message

Pls support legislation accelerating distribution of oil revenue royalties to G.C. states necessary for clean-up and infrastructure projects